Course Overview

Course summary

Our degree courses with Foundation year offer the opportunity to prepare you for advanced study before you progress onto a full honours degree at the University of Westminster. Whether you do not feel ready for degree-level study, don’t have the right qualifications, want to change your subject specialism or return to study after an absence from education, we aim to encourage a broad range of students to undertake our Foundation year in order to progress onto their full honours degree with us.

The Foundation year is designed to give you the opportunity to explore new ideas, opening up new perspectives on the key debates within your chosen field. Core modules accelerate your academic and professional development and you will also take modules from areas closely related to your chosen field, giving you the chance to develop a cross-disciplinary perspective on your course.

On successful completion of the Foundation year, you will be able to move on to study for the Spanish and Global Communication BA Honours degree.

This Modern Languages degree is designed to develop your knowledge, use and understanding of the Spanish language and culture, along with the skills needed for effective communication in the professional global environment.

The course enables you to achieve a good or high level of linguistic competence in Spanish in all four skill areas (reading, writing, listening and speaking), and demonstrate a good or high degree of proﬁciency in mediating between Spanish and English. You will be able to function linguistically in diverse cultural situations, and acquire qualities and skills in areas such as interpersonal communication and organisational skills, ﬂexibility and tolerance, analysis and argument, autonomy and team working, and team management. You will also gain the transferable and cognitive skills necessary for lifelong personal and professional development.

We accept students at two different entry points – beginner or intermediate. Please note that we may need to test you to determine your entry point.

You will study an integrated curriculum with a focus on applied language skills and cultural studies, supported by a rigorous development of your foreign language skills in all areas. You can also study an elective module from across the University in each year.

Teaching and learning takes place through a combination of formal lectures, seminars and practical workshops; guided self-study and preparation; and exposure to professionally relevant simulations and real-work environments.

Much of your learning will take place during independent study, individually and in groups, in the well-resourced and recently refurbished library, at home and via the online learning provision.

Assessment methods include in-class coursework, essays and projects, presentations, and oral and unseen written exams.

Year abroad

An exciting option on this course is a year spent studying abroad. This is designed to enhance your language skills and allows you to experience the culture of the language you are studying. Usually, you are placed in universities with which we have formal exchange agreements, and follow a programme of study agreed beforehand.

The option of working as a language assistant in secondary schools abroad also exists for those whose ﬁrst language is English, and some shorter placements are available.

We currently have exchange agreements with universities in the European Union and beyond. Some of these are particularly unusual and exciting. For example, students of Spanish may go to Argentina as well as Spain, and students of French could go to Canada and Belgium as well as France. The arrangements for the year abroad may vary considerably from year to year due to factors beyond the University’s control, but we do guarantee an appropriate placement for every student enrolled on this course.

Course structure

The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course.

To help you make an informed decision, you can have a look at how marks have been calculated and study time has been distributed on this course in the past.

People and Things on the Move: Identity, Place and Memory in and across Diasporic Spaces

Professionalising Global Communication

Themes in Contemporary Spanish Studies

Credit Level 6

Westminster Plus Electives

As part of your course you may be able to take elective modules. Electives are an exciting opportunity to widen your experience at university and to gain skills and knowledge that will help make you more employable.

Course Leader

Senior Lecturer in Intercultural Communication

Federica Mazzara has a background in Cultural Studies and is interested in a variety of topics, including migration, representation and art. She graduated in languages and values the importance of learning a foreign language in relation to its cultural context.

She teaches various modules at the University of Westminster, including Introduction to the Studies of Language and Culture, and Complex Narratives: Representation, Meaning and Identity and Migration and Cultural Encounters.

She is course leader for the "Languages and Global Communication" and "Languages and International Relations" BA courses.

If you're interested in the language and culture of different countries and how they interact on global issues, then this is the course for you."

Our Careers and Employability Service is here to support you to achieve your full potential.

With a growing network of over 3,000 employers around the world and a team of experienced careers consultants, we provide you with a variety of opportunities to work and develop new skills. As a University of Westminster student, you’ll have access to our services throughout your studies and after you graduate.

Additional costs

Course Location

Our Regent Campus is composed of three sites, situated on and around one of the most famous and vibrant streets in London. Our Humanities subjects are based at 309 Regent Street which includes recently refurbished social spaces, gym facilities and our Regent Street Cinema. Criminology, Sociology and Politics students are also taught at our Wells Street site. Westminster Law School resides at Little Titchfield Street. Alongside a full mock courtroom, hi-tech learning spaces and a pro-bono clinic, it also houses our state-of-the-art, 382-seat lecture theatre. For more details, visit our locations page.